


Gold to Black

by GemmaRose



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Dark Sandy is a bamf, Dark!Sandy, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Mind Control, fast, shit goes south
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 02:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By some flaw in the arrow, or perhaps unexpected accuracy, Pitch manages to convert Sandy instead of killing him. Now the tables are turned, and the Guardians are running scared. Because they know how powerful he <i>really</i> is.</p><p>de-anon from rotg-kink</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InsanityRed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsanityRed/gifts).



The last shred of golden sand vanished, and Jack's chest tightened painfully. "No!" he rocketed upwards, the wind about his ears drowning out every other sound save the frantic thrumming of his heart. The circle of _should be gold, why wasn't it gold_ sand had tightened into a ball, and Jack only just barely dodged out of the way when the first barb-tipped lash whipped past him.

Pitch's eyes were wide, his mouth a perfect O of surprise as the newly converted Dreamsand sloughed away to reveal a familiar round figure. The falling Nightmare Sand turned into a swarm of piranhas, and Jack stopped breathing for a moment. "Sandy?"

The little man's eyes opened, and Jack saw a familiar smile for half a second before it turned cruel. His friend's trademark whips appeared, and as one wrapped around his arm Jack felt hooks dig into his flesh. The winter sprite screamed as he was yanked closer to he corrupted Dreamweaver, and a burst of unfamiliar power turned every scrap of Nightmare Sand in the air to glittering black dust. Jack's vision went blurry, and he could hear shouting as he began to fall.

\-----

Pitch could only stare in amazement at the man he'd hated with all his heart just moments ago. There must have been some flaw in the arrow, or perhaps he'd hit exactly the right spot, because his nemesis was grinning wickedly and snapping barbed whips at the Guardians. He should've been dead, dissolved into so much Nightmare Sand, but he was standing there and- Pitch caught himself before taking an unconscious step forward. The Sandman was _laughing_!

Below them Frost screamed in agony, and the rotund dream-giver laughed. It was like discordant music, sending delicious chills down Pitch's spine. Then the clouds they stood on exploded, and Pitch found himself falling quickly. His landing was hard, or at least as hard as it got for a creature made of shadows, and he picked himself up with a smile. Now that the Guardians were flying away through a portal made with one of North's snowglobes, he wouldn't be seen. Pitch punched the air victoriously and did a small happy dance. This was even better than if it had all gone according to plan! By all rights Sandy should've been dissolved by that arrow, but instead one of the most powerful spirits he'd ever battled was now just as evil as he was!

Phasing into shadow, he stepped out of the patch of darkness his new ally cast in the moon's light. "Sanderson." he grinned, holding out a hand. "It is an honour."

The smaller spirit snored quietly, and Pitch gave his former enemy a disbelieving look. "Sandy!" he shouted, having seen other spirits wake the Dreamweaver the same way. The little man jolted, bobbing in the air like a cork before giving Pitch the evil eye.

" _I was napping_." he said in sand-pictures, crossing his little arms.

Pitch held his hands out. "I meant you no discomfort, Sanderson. I only wished to ask if you would deign to be my friend and ally."

Sandy made a thinking face, then smiled and nodded. A pair of lips appeared over his head, followed by silhouettes of the both of them and then a question mark. Pitch's face went hot and purple-blotchy, and when he made to step back he was stopped by a lash of Nightmare sand as firm as iron around his wrist.

" _I'll only join you if I get something out of it_." he smiled peacefully, crafting a rose out of the glittering black grains. Somehow his creation looked warmer than Pitch's did, the sand in his hands tinting red instead of blueish purple. " _I know your dreams, Pitch. The ones you hide from yourself. We will both benefit from this arrangement._ "

Pitch felt his cheeks heating, and had a moment of absolute certainty that his face had turned the colour of a morning glory in bloom. "Just..." he winced internally. "Just a small kiss, to start with."

Sandy grinned wide, displaying his still near-white teeth. "You'll be begging me for more later." he promised with a wink, floating up to give the Nightmare King a brief kiss. Pitch gasped silently, and when Sandy flicked his tongue out between the taller spirit's lips he was rewarded with a moan. Pitch's hands came up to clutch at his robe, and Sandy pulled away with a smirk.

" _We're on my terms now_." he winked, conjuring up a door of black sand. " _Come on, there's much that needs to be done. Once Jack is on our side, we will be able to conquer the Seasons as well as the Guardians_."

Pitch blinked, speechless until Sanderson rolled his eyes. "I-" he grinned. "I suggest we utilise the boy's memories."

Sandy nodded, and when the door opened Pitch saw his own lair.

"You will have to teach me that trick." The taller man said with a smile, hooking his arm through Sandy's proffered elbow.

The former Guardian grinned slyly. " _No promises_."

Pitch smiled and gestured to the mounds of teeth. "My apologies for the mess. Perhaps we may combine our talents and locate Frost's teeth?"

Sandy flashed a thumbs-up and drifted over the railing, looking at the piles of golden containers as he passed them. Pitch smiled and followed suit, raising a hand surreptitiously to touch his lips. The skin still tingled where Sanderson had touched him, and he felt his face warming at the memory. Yes, this arrangement would indeed be mutually beneficial.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack whimpered slightly as Bunny wrapped his arm in bandages. Once they'd confirmed he didn't have "Shadow Fever", whatever that was, Bunny had begun patching up his injuries. The arm was simply what he'd left for last. North and Tooth whispered in the corner, and though Jack couldn't hear the exact words the intensity was clear.

"Bunny?"

"They're talkin' about Sandy." he replied quietly. "We don't want to kill him, but..."

Jack whimpered as the bandage was tied off, and Bunny rolled his eyes. "Oh come off it, Frostbite. It doesn't hurt that bad."

"Yes it does." he said petulantly.

"Boys." Tooth snapped, darting between them. Her face was hard and angry, but she'd been crying. "We can't afford infighting right now."

Bunny nodded once, and Jack looked at the floor. "But Sandy-"

"Is gone." North interrupted, his face like stone. "We have no choice but to fight them on their terms."

Despite the situation, Bunny smiled. "Not quite, mate. Easter is tomorrow and I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!"

Jack grinned, looking from Bunny to the darkened Globe. "What's the fastest way there?"

Bunny smirked. "Oh no no no. My Warren, my rules." he flashed a smug grin at North. "Buckle up."

Jack tried to jump back from the hole which opened under his feet, but Bunny pushed him forward. The tunnel whipped by at lightning speed, and if he'd been prepared Jack would've slid down on his feet. The tunnel opened up into a large, sunny room, and Jack couldn't help but mirror Bunny's smile.

"Welcome, to the Warren."

\-----

Jack shifted Sophie so she was settled more comfortably against him, her little arms wrapped around his neck and her head on his shoulder. The tunnel Bunny gave him opened at his pond, and the flight to Jamie's house took no time at all. Untangling Sophie, on the other hand, proved to be a bit of a challenge. After some difficulty he got her tucked in firmly so she wouldn't roll off, and when he perched on the window sill he gave Baby Tooth a grin. "Time to go, huh?"

She nodded, but as Jack stood to leave he heard a voice. It was faint, barely audible, but it was so _familiar_. There was a little girl calling for him!

\-----

"Looking for something?" An unfamiliar voice called. Every hair on Jack's body stood on end, and he turned around slowly. Sandy was seated on a railing, watching a stingray swim between his fingers.

It takes Jack a moment to realise that the voice must've come from his friend. "Sandy? You can TALK?"

The short man rolled his eyes, fixing Jack with a disbelieving stare. "I come out to taunt you, and all you can do is comment on my possession of vocal cords? Typical." he bobbed to his feet and started off down a hallway. After a moment of hesitation, Jack followed.

"What's that mean, typical?" he called after the barely visible figure.

Sandy stopped in a patch of shadow so dark that all Jack could see was the former Guardian's eyes. "I mean, in 300 years your thought process has not evolved at all from that of a human teenager. And a teenage male, at that." his eyes narrowed. "Now, if you will excuse me, I believe my partner has some plans he wishes to discuss."

Jack gaped as Sandy vanished, and then the floor opened up under him and he fell. The staff slipped from his fingers, and as soon as he landed he was on his hands and knees hunting for it. "Oh, look at that." Pitch drawled. "Sanderson was telling the truth."

Jack found his staff and yanked it from the oily shadows which had been hiding it. Leaping to his feet, he fired off a bolt at the darkness where Pitch's voice had been coming from.

"Is that really the best you can do, Frost?" Pitch laughed. "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Afraid?" Jack scoffed, turning in place as he tried to pinpoint where Pitch was in the darkness. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Maybe not, but you are afraid of something."

Jack could practically _hear_ the smirk, but he still couldn't tell where it was coming from. "I _know_ so. It's the one thing I always know, people's greatest fears." The chamber suddenly filled with blinding light, and as Jack blinked away the spots he saw Pitch standing by the opposite wall. "Yours is that no-one will ever believe in you."

Jack's heart constricted in his chest, and for the first time in yeas he felt real fear. Turning on his heel, he fled into the nearest doorway. The tunnel lead him into the first room, the walkway where he'd confronted Sandy.

"And worst of all," Pitch continued, his voice practically in Jack's ear. "You're afraid you'll never know _why_."

Jack fled, no longer caring if he was letting Pitch win a round. He needed to get away.

"Why _you_?"

He ran to the tunnel he'd entered by, only to find it stopped up with neat black bricks.

"Why were you _chosen_ , to be like this?"

Pitch's shadow appeared on the brick, and Jack spun to raise his staff defensively.

"Well fear not. For the answers-"

"Are right here." Sandy finished, floating up to hold out a golden tooth box. "Do you want them, Jack? Your memories?" he grinned, a cruel mockery of the warm smile that got him through his worst nights. Jack stared, and for one moment he almost took them. Almost reached out and accepted them, regardless of the wordless contract it would sign. Squeezing his eyes shut, he thought of Bunny and North, how disappointed they'd be if he left them for something so small as memories. The hall was empty when he opened them, and somehow that was more unnerving than if they'd still been there. Clutching his staff tight, he set off to look for another exit.

Pitch's shadow appeared on the corner, and on impulse Jack charged after it.

"Everything you wanted to know, in this little box." Pitch whispered, his shadow walking backwards down the stairs just steps ahead of Jack's own.

Jack turned, cursing fluently in his head as he realised the walls hid no doors. His shadow was no longer his own, and as he watched it became eight, ten copies of Pitch, circling him like vultures.

"Why did you end up like this? Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone. You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them, and fly off with them. But you're afraid, of what the Guardians will think. You're afraid of disappointing them."

"Well let me ease you mind about one thing." Sandy interjects, a pair of grinning black sand doppelgangers appearing at Jack's sides. "They'll never accept you, not really. Nobody wanted you, we contacted you because we had no other choice. Did you really think we'd kidnap somebody we wanted to keep around?"

The sand-clones multiplied while speaking, all of their mouths moving in unison. Jack stepped back, heart pounding even louder in his ears as he pressed the heels of his palms to them. "Stop it. STOP IT!"

The shadows and clones melted away, revealing Pitch next to an exceptionally smug Sandy. "After all," Pitch said with a smirk. "You're not one of them."

Jack swung his staff up, pointing it at Pitch's chest. "You don't know what I am!" he shouted desperately, back almost pressed against the Boogieman's cast bronze globe.

"But I do." Sandy said, eyes glinting as he turned the tooth box over in his restless hands. "You're Jack Frost. You make a mess wherever you go." he paused to grin wickedly. "Why, you're doing it right now."

Jack caught the box on reflex, and as he stared at the mischievous brown eyes a sense of dread grew in him. "What did you do?" he whispered, looking up at the two forces of darkness.

"More to the point, Jack." Sandy chuckled, sinking back down the tunnel .

"What did _you_ do?" Pitch smirked, chuckling as he followed Sandy, melting into the shadows like the Cheshire cat.

Jack roared as he charged forward, staff glowing as he swung blindly in the dark.

Pitch laughed, and Jack felt something crack under his foot. No. No, no, no, no, no! He spun and ran back, until he hit a large, circular stone door. "Baby Tooth!" he yelled, realising belatedly that she wasn't in his hood or on his shoulder.

"Happy Easter, Jack." the pair chorused, smirks practically tangible as Jack turned around to see utter destruction. The entire floor was littered with broken eggs and trampled baskets, and Jack's heart fell to somewhere around his knees.

"No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, most of this was just re-write of the movie scene, but I felt it needed telling. Next chapter will probably be Antarctica, and since Sandy's centre is still dreams I'm thinking this'll go rather a lot differently.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack landed clumsily on the ice, vision blurred but tears not quite falling. They'd been right. Sandy and Pitch, they'd been right. He should've listened when he had the chance, should've let the boxes be and run back to the Warren. Should've never taken Sophie home in the first place, when Bunny or Tooth or North would've gotten there and back so much faster. He ran up a slope which overhung an expanse of water, possibly the ocean possibly just a bay, but before he released the container he topped his arm. He couldn't just throw it away, he had to give it back to Tooth. At least then she wouldn't be starting completely from scratch.

"I thought this would happen."

Jack tensed at the voice. How had Pitch found him here?

"They never really believed in you. I was just trying to show you that. But _I_ understand."

Jack whipped around, firing a bolt of ice at Pitch. "You don't understand **anything**!" he screamed, slinging more bolts of cold at the Boogieman.

"No? I don't know what it's like to be **cast out**?" Pitch flung a small wave of sand at him, and when Jack froze it it raised a cloud of fog.

"To **not** be believed in?"

He stepped through the haze, holding out his hands palm-up. "To long for, a _family_."

Jack lowered his staff, hardly aware of the step he took closer to the Nightmare King.

"All those years in the shadows I thought, no one else knows what this feels like. But now I see I was wrong." the pair locked eyes, and Pitch gave a small, hopeful smile. "We don't have to be alone anymore, Jack. We believe in you." he gestured to his side, and Jack jumped slightly when Sandy appeared out of the fog.

The rotund little Dreamweaver nodded, his soft smile as familiar as the ache of loneliness it had eased. "We believe in you, and I know the children will too."

"Really?" Jack couldn't help the small smile that came to his face. "You promise?"

"Of course." the Nightmare Bringers chorused. They gave each other twin looks of surprise, and Jack chuckled. Loosening his hold on the staff, he walked closer to the grey-skinned spirits.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and let it all out. "Count me in." he said quietly, opening his eyes to smile up at the older spirits.

Sandy grinned back and sank slightly to give Jack a hug. It wasn't warm, like his hugs had been in the past, but somehow the coolness of his touch made it even better.Jack closed his eyes as Pitch's bony arms wrapped around them both, and in that moment everything was perfect.

Because after all, what goes better than Cold and Dark, or Fear and Fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one done mostly by-the-script. Now the Guardians are REALLY screwed. Also, Sandy was totes napping behind a lump of ice while Pitch and Jack were being all dramatic. Might cover a bit of this from Sandy's PoV next chapter, just to show why Jack's reaction changed so drastically.


End file.
